Latest news with #whiteworkingclass
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
The grooming gang scandal isn't just about race, it's also about class
Public outrage over the grooming gang scandal has so far revolved almost entirely around its racial dimension. There can be absolutely no doubt that the suppression of crucial facts because they might have incited prejudice against an ethnic minority was unforgivable, and that the ramifications of what we now know must be ruthlessly examined. There are serious questions about the possibility (or impossibility) of successful multiculturalism that can no longer be avoided. All this is clear and it will be discussed, with its huge implications, exhaustively – because race and the coexistence of different ethnicities within a democratic country are the great topics of the day. What is receiving far less attention – perhaps because it is so much a part of the fabric of British social attitudes as to be nearly invisible – is the question of how the victims of this systematic abuse could have been treated by official authorities with such callous indifference. Let's put it plainly: the fact that huge numbers of white working-class girls could be trafficked, tortured and horrifically abused with the conscious complicity of agencies of the state is not entirely due to sensitivities about the ethnicity of the perpetrators. There is another factor here that is much older and more deeply embedded in British attitudes than the fashionable concern with racial politics. Most of these girls, now being described as 'vulnerable', are of a class and a social type that this country was accustomed to treating with contempt long before Pakistani men were said to have regarded them as whores because they appeared 'uncovered' in public. This supposed explanation, which is presented as a kind of apologia – it was all just a form of cultural misunderstanding – is ridiculous of course. The men knew perfectly well that what they were doing was criminal and relied on local networks of corruption to protect them. But what about the other matter? What about the police and the local authorities and the social care agencies who just preferred to ignore what was happening – or even, in some outrageous instances, to join in the persecution of the victims? Was that entirely due to the fear of raising racial tensions? Or could it be that Britain still has some pretty ugly class prejudices which permit those in charge to dismiss the complaints and protests of the kind of people who are considered beneath contempt? There is something about the hardhearted dismissiveness with which the girls' pleas for help were treated that is almost Dickensian. Many of those who heard them and saw what was happening were presumably quite normal and respectable, perhaps with families (maybe daughters) of their own. What made it possible for them to discount a category of helpless young girls as – what? Not fit for sympathy? Incapable of leading decent lives, anyway? In effect, less than human? Yes, there had to be more to this than the fear of arousing racial tensions or alienating a minority ethnic group. You cannot write off a whole tranche of victims whose safety is your legal (and moral) responsibility unless you believe that they are, somehow, not worth protecting. Did they tell themselves that the girls had 'asked for it', joined in with the drug taking, made themselves available, become the 'whores' that the men assumed them to be? That is the sort of thing that has been said for generations about poor girls who found themselves left to the streets, whom the Victorian reformers and the Evangelical Christian Church once set out to save in the face of traditional smug complacency. This is such a well documented phenomenon in English social history that it is scarcely credible that it could survive intact into the 21st century. But here it is, in a new incarnation. It is not preposterous to suggest that the race issue was just another pretext for the old snobbery that has always condemned girls of this kind to be social outcasts. Ironically, they were being disowned by people who probably regarded themselves as Left-wing. There is something peculiarly resilient about class attitudes in Britain. It remains the undercurrent for most social transactions (and almost all comedy), political behaviour and professional advancement. Of course every sophisticated society has some kind of hierarchical social order and codes of behaviour that are dictated by it. In many of the old European countries – even ones that have dispensed with their aristocracies – it is based on inherited family position. Sometimes (as in Italy) it is connected to regions. In the United States, race took the place of class as the great social barrier but within the white population it was primarily wealth that provided status, not breeding and, until very recently, the wealth that was most admirable was self-made. The Calvinist ideal of success by one's individual effort was the admired model, not the noblesse oblige of an inherited fortune. For the longest time, Americans did not openly acknowledge the existence of what we would call a 'class system'. There were just the 'poor' who needed to work harder so that they could fulfil the American dream, and those who had fulfilled the dream and become richer. It was a ruthless, puritanical assumption that largely ignored the variations in advantages that are (supposedly) taken into account by an older, more established hierarchy. Many would argue that the resilience of class divides in British life should not be blamed entirely on middle-class prejudice: that it is as much a function of working-class solidarity. The reassurance of community ties and common values may make the abandonment of your old roots a frightening and painful thing. There can be little doubt that the existential anxiety that permeates American life with its relentless pressure for social mobility is not enviable. So yes, there is something to be said for loyalty to family, roots and neighbourhood – a refusal to budge from the attitudes in which you were raised. That can seem like a justifiable moral stand and a safe harbour for life. But where does it end? With a road to nowhere and such incurable hopelessness that huge numbers of working-class girls (and boys) can be discarded without a qualm.
The Sun
03-06-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
White working-class kids have been betrayed. It's not racist to say it, it's the truth & Labour have finally admitted it
AT long last, a senior Labour politician has said it out loud: White working class kids are being failed by our education system, and it's a national scandal. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson did not mince her words, saying: 'Across attendance, attainment and life chances, white working class children and those with special educational needs do exceptionally poorly. 4 'Put simply, these children have been betrayed — left behind in society's rear-view mirror. They are children whose interests too many politicians have simply discarded.' Hear hear! Finally this Labour government has admitted what most of Westminster has been too afraid to say for years. Phillipson has now launched an inquiry into why white working-class children are being left behind in schools. For years, I've been banging on about this, much to the fury of the Black Lives Matter brigade and race-hustling grifters. Yes, for too long, it was people like me — a black, female, immigrant — who were blocked from getting on in Britain. But that's simply not the case any more. It's poor white kids now getting utterly shafted. The Conservatives never got to grips with the issue. Labour ignored it completely, terrified of being branded racist. But now, even they can't deny the uncomfortable truth. Shocking new Government analysis shows that in 1,228 schools in England where more than 20 per cent of pupils are both white British and disadvantaged, 21 see those pupils performing better than average. Farage promised an earthquake & he delivered - Labour are badly bruised & Tories face being brushed aside as opposition Not 21 per cent, 21 schools. In other words, if you're a poor white kid in one of England's classrooms, you're screwed. This is a national emergency. And the only thing worse than the problem is how long politicians have ignored it. The data has been screaming at us for years. In the 2022 to 2023 school year, only 36 per cent of white British pupils on free school meals got a grade 4 (equivalent to a C), or above, in English and maths at GCSE. For black pupils, it was 56 per cent. For Asian pupils, 62 per cent. So much for white privilege! If you're a white working class boy, your outlook is even bleaker. Since the pandemic, the number of young men who are NEET (not in education, employment, or training) has soared by 40 per cent. For young women, the rise was seven per cent. And where do these young lads end up? Often jobless and on benefits. In towns like Grimsby and Birkenhead, where over half the working-age population is on out-of-work benefits, many kids are now fourth, fifth, even sixth-generation unemployed. And those are the lucky ones. Others end up in prison or six feet under. The male suicide rate in England and Wales in 2023 hit its highest point since 1999 — a tragic figure. We've rightly spent decades trying to level the playing field for ethnic minorities. Great. But where is the national mission to lift up the forgotten white working class kids of Britain, especially the boys? The industries that once gave these lads pride, purpose, and a decent wage — manufacturing, skilled trades, construction — have been gutted. Big blunder In 1970, those sectors made up around 40 per cent of the UK economy. Today? Just 16 per cent. And nothing meaningful has replaced them. Meanwhile, politicians keep banging on about ' jobs of the future', as if everyone is a middle-class graduate. They tell us the future belongs to data scientists and AI engineers. Fantastic — if you've got three A-levels and a degree, that is. But what if you barely have two GCSEs to rub together? So yes, Phillipson is right to sound the alarm. But that's not enough. If Labour think a new inquiry will solve this, they are kidding themselves. We've had more reviews than these poor white kids have had free school meals. Labour's last big blunder, when they were previously in power, was pushing every young person into university. A generation of students are now loaded with debt for degrees they didn't need. This time, they have a chance to do something meaningful for the kids who need it most. The Government's £165million skills boost and new technical excellence colleges are welcome, but unless this investment zeroes in on neglected poor white communities, it'll barely scratch the surface. We need root-and-branch overhaul of how schools teach disadvantaged kids. Education is in a state of disaster in this country: Severe absence rates are at record highs, according to the Centre for Social Justice thinktank, teachers are striking because behaviour is at rock bottom, and almost one in three parents no longer think kids even need to be at school every day, according to a YouGov poll for the CSJ. Poor white kids are falling through the cracks of a system crippled by political correctness and low expectations. We've made a national effort to support ethnic minorities — now we must do the same for these kids. = It's not racist to say it, it's the truth. TOUGH JOB FOR ARMY THE Government is pledging billions to make the UK 'war-fighting ready' and the Army 'ten times more lethal'. Good luck with that! Most young men today can't last ten minutes without checking TikTok – and certainly wouldn't survive a day on the battlefield. Army numbers have been tanking for years. There's no queue of eager recruits, and there isn't going to be any time soon. We've spent years telling young men to ditch 'masculine' stuff, pushing them out of 'proper jobs' and into lecture theatres, while teaching them Britain is the world's biggest villain. Why would they want to fight for it? If the Army is hoping for a new generation of tough lads, it will be waiting a long time. World Boxing pulling no punches on Khelif at last FINALLY, a knockout win for women's sport. Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has been banned from competing in any World Boxing event until they get a sex screening to show they are female. 4 This comes after a leaked medical report appeared to show that Khelif is male. Shocking? Hardly. Anyone with eyes could see Khelif had high testosterone levels, which made it completely unfair to fight a biological woman. Putting female boxers in the ring with people who may be male isn't 'inclusive', it is insanity. JK Rowling nailed it: 'It's a win for women because they won't be battered to death in the ring by men.' She's right. Women's sport exists so women can compete safely and fairly, not so men with a hormone loophole can dominate the podium. Hats off to World Boxing for finally finding their courage. Genetic sex testing is coming in, and not a moment too soon. MADDIE A MUST GERMAN police are investigating Madeleine McCann's disappearance. And predictably, some on X are losing their minds: 'Why are they still bothering?', they shout. But I'm happy to live in a world that doesn't give up on missing children. Madeleine's case was a high-profile kidnapping with possible links to paedophiles and unanswered leads nearly 20 years on. If it were their child, these online trolls would be begging police to keep searching. The millions spent since 2007 – and the Met was given a further £108,000 for the probe, known as Operation Grange, in April – may seem a lot. But if it helps solve one of the most chilling child disappearances in history, it's worth every penny. Delighted sense won for Jodie's lemurs BEING emotionally invested in Jodie Marsh's legal battle over lemurs was not on my 2025 bingo card, but here we are. Who'd have thought the former lads' mag star would become Essex's unexpected champion of endangered primates? 4 Yet it's the local council that has gone bananas, trying to evict her lemurs over a bit of jungle noise. Thankfully, the judge saw sense and said claims the lemurs were a nuisance were unfounded. He ruled they could stay in her private animal sanctuary. Now Uttlesford District Council has to fork out £20,000 in costs to Jodie for wasting everyone's time. Good for Jodie, I say!
Daily Mail
31-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
White working-class pupils behind in all but 21 of UK's 3,400 secondary schools, shocking figures reveal
White working-class children are falling behind their peers in all but 21 schools across the country, shocking official data has shown. It means only a tiny fraction of more than 3,400 secondary schools across England see such pupils doing as well as their peers. Last night Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson warned that white working-class children were being 'betrayed' and left behind. In what has been seen as an attempt to take on Nigel Farage 's Reform UK, Ms Phillipson has launched an inquiry into why such children are failing. She said: 'Across attendance, attainment and life chances, white working-class children and those with special educational needs do exceptionally poorly. 'Put simply, these children have been betrayed – left behind in society's rear-view mirror. They are children whose interests too many politicians have simply discarded.' The proportion of white working-class pupils getting grades 5 or above in English and maths GCSE was 18.6 per cent, substantially below the 45.9 per cent national average, according to the data. But critics said Labour was only paying attention to the issue to counter the threat from Reform. Tory schools spokesman Neil O'Brien said: 'Everything Bridget Phillipson is doing is disastrous for white working-class kids. 'Her trade union-led Schools Bill is smashing up 30 years of cross-party reforms which have raised standards in England. 'Phillipson has axed support for able pupils in mathematics, physics, Latin and computing because she sees them as elitist. 'She has axed the behaviour hubs which were doing so much to improve discipline and standards in schools. 'School funding formulas still tend to heavily favour urban areas. While 40 years ago, London was an education disaster zone, today it is the highest-achieving part of the country and the lowest levels of achievement are found in shire and coastal areas.' At secondary school, white British pupils on free school meals perform around a grade and a half worse in each GCSE subject compared with the national average. Officials said the drivers of low attainment among white working-class pupils included a lack of parental involvement or aspiration. According to the research, white boys from disadvantaged backgrounds and workless homes have the lowest aspirations of all groups. But white working-class girls also fell in school attainment at a faster pace than their peers over the past five years. The inquiry will be led by Sir Hamid Patel, who runs a number of outstanding schools across Yorkshire, the North West and the West Midlands. Former home secretary Sir David Blunkett will also sit on the panel, alongside school standards tsar Sir Kevan Collins. It will look at why white working-class children perform worse across measures including behaviour, attendance, mental health, attainment and life chances. Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty said: 'Since the early 2000s, white working-class pupils have fallen behind their peers at every level of education. 'English and maths GCSEs are the bedrock of education and opportunity. 'The Government must develop a strategy to close this attainment gap and ensure this group are no longer marginalised. 'Labour must dispel the ongoing narrative around white privilege, as well as intergenerational disadvantage, geographic inequalities and disengagement from school, if they are serious about improving outcomes.' Announcing the inquiry, Ms Phillipson said: 'We'll look closely at what's working in the tiny number of schools that the data indicates may have cracked this problem for white working-class children. 'My message to parents is that we will create a school system where every child, in every classroom, has the support they need to achieve, and a fair crack at making a success of their life.'
Daily Mail
31-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
DAN HODGES: I know the real reason Keir Starmer will never set foot in a truly working-class area ever again...
Finally. The Labour Party have discovered the British white working class do exist. Or, at least, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has. 'White working-class children, and those with special educational needs, do exceptionally poorly,' she admits. 'Put simply, these children have been betrayed, left behind in society's rear-view mirror.'
